4th Herd Closes 2021 with Two Losses

 Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (11-7) closed out 2021 with two losses at the SCF Holiday Classic as they fell to Pensacola State (9-7) 83-62 and Seward County CC (7-7, 4-4 KJCCC) 79-77 in overtime Thursday and Friday night. With the losses, the Manatees are now 1-3 against the Pirates and 0-1 against the Saints.

Head Coach Tom Parks was unavailable for comments on both games.

SCF vs Pensacola:

Prior to SCF playing Pensacola, Seward County CC played against Polk State (10-5) in an earlier game where they lost by a score of 77-69.

Throughout the entire game, it was all in the favor of the Pirates as they controlled the majority of the game. While the Manatees tried to get a few offensive sparks in the second half, it was not enough as the Pirates would seal the deal with a win.

Three players scored in double figures for the Manatees. It was sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers that lead the way as he finished with 18 points (6-for-11 FG, 1-for-3 3PT, 5-for-7 FT), four rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks. Freshman Ametri Moss would follow with 15 points (5-for-10 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 4-for-4 FT) and one rebound, while classmate Jacari White rounded out the order with 12 points (5-for-13 FG, 2-for-5 3PT), four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Sophomore Clarence Cummings III and freshman Cobey Harraway each finished with eight points. Cummings III (1-for-7 FG, 6-for-7 FT) added four rebounds and one block, while Harraway (2-for-9 FG, 2-for-4 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added three rebounds and one assist.

Sophomores Javon Bell (one steal) and Darik Tannis-Harriet (two rebounds) and freshmen Ronnail Tape (six rebounds), Pierre-Gabriel Gouffran (one point, three rebounds and two assists) and Sam Faraday (one rebound) also contributed in the game.

For the Pirates, Zondrick Garrett lead the way with 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while Naim Miller added a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds and Jarveil Gainey and Truth Harris each had 14 points. Gainey added six rebounds, two assists and two steals, while added two rebounds and four assists.

SCF vs Seward County:

Prior to SCF’s game, Polk State would defeat Pensacola State 62-59 in their second game.

The first half saw the Manatees off to a very slow start as they were down on a 7-0 Seward run in the first two minutes until a Faraday 3-pointer gave the Manatees their first points of the game. As Parks tried to strategize the team to get points on the board, White and Moss would answer the call as they would secure several 3-point shots in success. The Saints would eventually take the first half 35-31.

The Manatees would not give up as White, Moss and Weathers answered the call to get the Manatees an opportunity to try and get the win. Eventually, the Manatees tied the game at 69 a piece. With less than 10 seconds in the second half, White would try to get the Manatees the win with a 3-point attempt, but it would not go in and would send the game to overtime.

Overtime turned out to be the dagger as the Saints hit the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left and claimed the win.

Three Manatees scored in double figures. It was White that lead the Manatees offensively as he finished with a game-high 23 points (8-for-15 FG, 5-for-9 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Moss would follow with a season-high 22 points (7-for-14 FG, 4-for-78 3PT, 4-for-6 FT), three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block, while Weathers rounded out the order with 14 points (4-for-10 FG, 6-for-10 FT) three rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.

Harraway (nine points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals), Cummings III (six points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks), Faraday (three points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block) and Bell (five rebounds, one assist, four steals and one block) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

With his 32 total points combined in both games, Weathers now has 722 in his career and 334 this season. He needs 278 to reach 1,000 career points and needs 472 to break the single season points record held by D’Moi Hodge (805, 2018-20)

The Manatees were without sophomores Kwo Agwa and Christian Nieto. Agwa was not in the starting lineup as he was handling personal issues. Nieto was also handling personal issues.

Head assistant coach Travis Nesby was also not with the team as he tested positive for COVID-19.

Up Next:

2021 has ended and the Manatees will now set their sights on 2022 and Southern Conference play. They will open on the road against Miami Dade College (7-7) Wednesday night, January 5, 2022.

SCF Tennis Opens Season at Home

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF tennis team will open the 2022 season at home as they welcome Southeastern University (NAIA) to the SCF Tennis Complex Friday afternoon, February 4 at 4:30 pm.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees come off finishing last season 1-8 overall with a 0-6 record in the Region 8 Standings. They would compete in the FCSAA State Tournament in San Lando where they would secure an automatic bid to qualify for the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Mesa, Arizona. They would finish in the Top 10 (T-7th) from there.

The Manatees are lead by head coach Chloe Murphy, who enters her fifth year as head coach for the team. She is joined by assistant coach Erin Bryce.

Key Losses, New Gains, Big Returns:

The Manatees will be without Alexis Booker, Mackenzie Vraspir, Britain 'Brie' Botsford, Allie Beck and Karla Menendez. Botsford (Savannah College of Art and Design (NAIA)) and Menendez (University of West Georgia (NCAA DII)) have decided to continue playing tennis collegiately.

Murphy was able to land five newcomers to join the team: Jessica Bustamante, Kathrin Didovich, Carlota 'Carly' Gascon Martinez, Jenna Gusto, Natalia Vuckovic and Sakurako Suzuki. Gascon Martinez joined the Manatees as a sophomore transfer from Eastern Florida State, while Suzuki joined the team during the spring semester.

All four returners for the Manatees are coming back: Kia Carvalho-Landell, Sarah Forsyth, Luna Mouton and Lou De Freitas Bonet.

Carvalho-Landell has been one of the key benefactors of the team after becoming runner-up in the state tournament at #5 singles and even went as far as semifinals of the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament. She is likely to move up from #5 singles to #2 singles.

National Ranking:

In mentioning of Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez, the sophomore duo is ranked #4 in the nation after their strong performances in the ITA Regionals in St. Pete (Runner-up) and the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia (semifinalists). Additonally, Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez were ranked in NJCAA Top 5 in singles action (#30: Carvalho-Landell; #33: Gascon Martinez).

De Freitas Bonet is ranked #12 in the NJCAA Top 50 in singles and ranked #17 in the NJCAA Top 25 in doubles with Forsyth.

Scouting Southeastern:

The Lady Flames are lead by head coach Drew Dickens, who enters his fourth season as head coach and coming off finishing last season 5-7 overall with a 2-4 record in the Sun Conference. They did not qualify for the Sun Conference Tournament or NAIA National Tournament.

Dickens will bring back the majority of the entire roster which includes sophomore Abigail Damon and junior Beatrice Letizia. Both Damon and Letizia had seven wins in dual singles action. In fact, they were the only two players that had more wins than loss on their singles records.

Series History:

The series between SCF and Southeastern is tied at 1-1.

Fans can keep up with the SCF tennis team on their Twitter: @TennisSCF

4th Herd Closes Final Home Games of 2021

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (11-5) will look to close out 2021 with their final two non-conference games of the season at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. The Manatees will welcome Pensacola State (8-6) Wednesday night, December 29 and Seward County CC (6-6, 4-4 KJCCC DI) Thursday night, December 30. Both games will start at 7 pm.

This will be the first time the Manatees play Seward and the fourth against Pensacola (Pensacola is 3-0 against the Manatees).

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of two straight home games after a stressful road weekend previously as they defeated St. Pete College 88-65 before upsetting then #18 Santa Fe College 99-84. It was the third time this season that the Manatees upset an NJCAA Top 25 Team and the fifth time overall in program history. They had two earlier wins over South Georgia State (then #21) and Georgia Highlands (then #24).

Record Breaker:

Sophomore James ‘Pop’ Weathers continues his offensive game in his role as point guard. Weathers is currently averaging 18.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. In the last two home games, he had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists against SPC and a double-double of 18 points, 11 assists rebounds and five rebounds against Santa Fe.

Additionally, Weathers currently has 672 career points and needs 328 to reach 1,000 career points. Furthermore, he has 302 points this season and could possibly break the record for most points in a single season, a record that has been held by the all-time leader in points D'Moi Hodge (805, 2018-20), but he'll need 504 more points this season to do so.

Returning Role:

After the departure of Djordje Gobovic, sophomore Kwo Agwa quietly made his way back to the starting lineup in a new role. Agwa is currently averaging 7.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. The Calgary, Alberta native had two straight double-doubles against SPC and Santa Fe where he scored a career-high 23 points with 10 rebounds and five blocks against SPC and scored 13 points with a career-high 14 rebounds and six blocks.

Four Wild:

Freshmen Jacari White and Cobey Harraway have been playing key parts in their roles of the rotation. White is averaging 11.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, while Harraway is averaging 10.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. In the last two home games, White averaged 19 points and five rebounds per game, which included a season-high 24 points against Santa Fe, while Harraway, despite being held to five points against Santa Fe, averaged nine points, two rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Additionally, classmate Ametri Moss and sophomore Clarence Cummings III have also played key parts in the starting lineup. Moss is averaging 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while Cummings III is averaging 8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Moss averaged 12 points, 6.5 rebounds and three assists per game in the last two games, while Cummings III averaged eight points, 6.5 rebounds, five assists and three steals per game.

Welcome Back:

Sophomore Javon Bell returned to the rotation after serving a six-game suspension for academics. Bell, who played against Santa Fe, had 14 points, three rebounds and one block. Currently, the Lakeland native is averaging 9.7 points, three rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game after his return.

Scouting Pensacola:

The Pirates are coming off of competing and splitting in the two-day Panhandle Classic at Chipola College where they fell to Jones College (66-39) before defeating Gadsden State Community College (60-48). They were on a four-game losing streak before defeating Gadsden State.

Freshmen Zondrick Garrett and Truth Harris lead the Pirates offensively. Garrett is averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, while Harris averages 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 4.9 assists per game. 

Scouting Seward County:

Seward County CC represents NJCAA Region VI (Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC)) and hail from Liberal, Kansas. They are lead by head coach Rylee Hernandez, who enters his second season as head coach for the team.

The Saints are coming off of a loss against Garden City CC (96-83) before getting wins over Cowley College (66-56) and Northwest Kansas Tech (73-61). They will play Polk State (8-5) at 5:30 pm Wednesday night, December 29 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium prior to playing SCF.

Freshman Erik Pratt leads the Saints as he is averaging 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, while classmates Taye Donald (10.8 ppg, 3.3 apg and 2.2 spg), Kevin Cooper (10.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg) and Wilson Dubinsky (12.1 ppg and 1.3 spg) follow along with Pratt.

How to Keep Up:

Both games will air on the SCF Sports Network page and fans can keep up with both games on the SCF Manatees or SCF Basketball Twitter pages.

SCF Athletics: @SCFManatees

SCF Basketball: @SCF_Basketball

Livestream Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

4th Herd Sends #18 Santa Fe Marching with Upset Win

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF basketball team (11-5) got a much needed revenge rematch Saturday afternoon at Hal Chasey Gymnasium as they upset #18 Santa Fe College (10-2) 99-84. With the win, the Manatees are now 5-13 against the Saints.

“It feels really good to get the win, but more importantly it feels good how we won,” said head coach Tom Parks. "I thought we did a really good job playing together and stuck to our defensive game plan, even though they scored 84 points, despite them being a high-scoring team. I thought some of the stuff we worked on offensively in a very short amount of time looked really good today and I thought we caught them off-guard in some areas, so I'm just proud that are guys really put a lot into the game plan while we prepped it for a day. We really wanted to focus on St. Pete this past Thursday, so we only focused on Santa Fe for a day where we watched film yesterday, had a good shoot around today, but it was just nice to see us take the right process and come out with a win."

"It felt really good to get the win over Santa Fe," said freshman Jacari White. "When we played them at their place, we weren't as together as we played today, and we really showed them how we scored when we almost hit 100 points and that really showed the team what we had."

The first half saw the Manatees gain an early 10-4 lead with sophomore Kwo Agwa getting eight rebounds in the first half, but soon there were several ties and lead changes between the two teams with the Saints taking the lead by as much as 12 points, but the Manatees would eventually would tie the game before the Saints took the first half 44-42.

The second half saw in the favor of the Manatees and after careful tweaks in plays on both ends of the floor, the Manatees took advantage of several scoring opportunities behind the 3-point line, thanks to White and sophomore Javon Bell, and strong offensive rebounding by Agwa. In the end, after a final 3-point shot by Bell, the Manatees were able to seal the deal and get the win to split the series with the Saints.

Six Manatees scored in double figures with two getting a double-double. It was White that lead the Manatees offense as he finished with a season-high 24 points (7-for-10 FG, 6-for-7 3PT, 4-for-4 FT), five rebounds, two assists and a block.

"I just had confidence in my work on the court," said White on his game. "I get in the gym late night and just kept shooting and it really showed today."

"Jacari is a really good basketball player," said Parks on White. "I think when you have a player like 'Pop', who has the ball in his hands a lot, you kind of get stuck watching 'Pop', but Jacari did a really good job getting his feet ready to shoot. He's a microwave and can heat up really fast and when he makes a couple of baskets, he can roll off five or six in a row, so I wasn't surprised because I coach him every day, but I'm proud of how he performed and I thought overall.

Agwa and sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers would follow behind White with a double-double each. Awga had 13 points (5-for-10 FG, 3-for-4 FT), 14 rebounds (seven offensive), two assists and six blocks, while Weathers had 18 points (5-for-9 FG, 3-for-5 3PT, 5-for-5 FT), 11 assists, five rebounds and one block.

"Pop did a really good job getting his teammates involved and trusting his teammates' shots," said Parks on Weathers. "If you really lock in on Pop and how he plays when he passes the ball and tells them to shoot, he has a lot of confidence for it when he tries to create plays for his teammates and I think he's really starting to trust his teammates more, which is nice."

"I think Kwo is doing an unbelievable job rebounding on both ends of the floor," said Parks on Agwa. "But I'm very impressed with his rebounding on the offensive end. Kwo is playing outside of his position right now and he's doing an unbelievable job and even though he's outside of his position, he's really good at that spot, but we're continually trying to enhance his game and get him on the perimeter, but it's hard to have someone like that who impacts the game so much around the basket like standing on the 3-point line, but I'm proud of how he responded, even while he's up-and-down in terms of his consistency and it was really nice to see him have his best game as a Manatee on Thursday and then follow it up with a 14-rebound game, which is tough to do."

"What I'm really proud of Kwo honestly is I didn't take him out in the second half and while he suffered a knee injury prior to his signing with us, which took a while for him to get back, he's someone you have to be cautious with how much you play him and he's finally at the point where he feels healthy and a lot better and not as stiff and I'm proud he gave us that effort for 20 minutes, which didn't really fall off. He really played with great energy and effort the entire game."

Bell and freshman Ametri Moss each finished with 14 points. Bell (5-for-14 FG, 4-for-10 3PT) added three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal, while Moss (5-for-12 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) added four rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Clarence Cummings III would round out the order with 11 points (4-for-9 FG, 3-for-4 FT), five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

"Coach Parks always tell to not stop shooting the ball," said Bell on his game. "I had to keep letting the ball fly so I can trust it and he can trust it."

Freshmen Cobey Harraway (five points, one assist and one block) and Ronnail Tape (one rebound) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

1. This was the third time this season that the Manatees have upset an NJCAA Top 25 team and the fifth time in program history.

2. Bell returned to the rotation after missing the last six games due to suspension.

"I'm happy I got to be back with the team today," said Bell on his return. "My teammates were even happier to have me back when they were passing me the ball and they kept me going, so everybody eats on offense and I loved it."

"I feel like we've been without Javon so much that I woke up and didn't even think about it," said Parks on Bell's return. "When coach Trav (Nesby) was in my office, he said 'we got number one back' and I was like 'oh shoot that's right, we can play Javon now' and it was nice to look down the bench and put him in the game. He put a ton of work on his jumpshot during the offseason. He had a hitch in his shot before and hats off to coach Trav and Nav (Gill) when he was here to work a lot with our guys during the summer."

"Javon lives in the gym and when he doesn't have a ride, he walks and he'll put countless hours on the shooting machine and when he doesn't use it, he follow up with his rebounding and get it back at the three. He worked hard on his three this year and I'm proud he could come back like that and go in the break with some confidence."

3. Weathers' 18 points put him at 672 and needs 328 to reach 1,000 career points.

4. This was Agwa's second straight double-double and his rebounds (both total and offensive) and total blocks were both career-highs.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

#6 Indian River State (12-2) were upset by Polk State (8-4) losing by a score of 86-84. The Pioneers will face Florida State College at Jacksonville (0-5) Wednesday night, December 15.

#25 FSW (10-2) defeated Gulf Coast State (9-4) 68-61. The Buccaneers will face Polk State on the road Wednesday night, December 15.

Miami Dade (7-6) defeated Barry University JV 102-64. The Sharks will face St. Pete (4-7) Saturday afternoon, December 18.

Hillsborough (5-6) fell to Polk State 75-73 this past Wednesday. The Hawks will host St. Pete Tuesday night, December 14.

Remaining Southern Conference Non-Conference Schedule:

12/14:

HCC vs SPC

12/15:

#6 Indian River State vs Florida State College at Jacksonville

#25 FSW vs Polk State

12/16:

#6 Indian River State vs North Florida Prep

12/18:

HCC @ RV Albany Tech

Miami Dade @ SPC

12/29:

Miami Dade @ ASA Miami

#25 FSW vs Illinois Central

12/30:

Miami Dade vs Illinois Central

#25 FSW vs ASA Miami

#6 Indian River State vs #15 Shelton State

HCC @ #18 Santa Fe

12/31:

#6 Indian River State vs Southern Union State

1/3/22:

Miami Dade @ Florida Memorial JV

1/4/22:

#25 FSW vs 212 Academy

Up Next:

The Manatees will look to close 2021 with two more wins in non-conference play as they welcome Pensacola State (8-6) Wednesday night, December 29 and Seward County CC (5-7) Thursday night, December 30. Seward County will play Polk State Wednesday afternoon, December 29 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium prior to playing SCF.

4th Herd Takes Sweep over SPC

Bradenton, Fla - After struggling this past weekend, the SCF basketball team (10-5) were able to snap their skid as they defeated St. Pete College (4-7) 88-65 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium Thursday night. With the win, the Manatees swept the Titans and are now 15-19 overall (2012-present).

“It feels really good to get a win tonight against St. Pete,” said head coach Tom Parks. "I just feel like St. Pete is one of those teams that can prepare you for a toughness test. They are very tough and very scrappy and never stop playing. If you can blow it open late in the second half, it speaks volumes to our guys. St. Pete doesn't let people get those kind of large leads and obviously going against coach (Earnest) Crumbley, someone who I have a ton of respect for and look up to as a coach and human being who process-oriented in doing things the right way, it means a lot."

"Overall I feel like we always talk about we're going against ourselves. We had a lot of issues lately trying to score the ball against man and zone defense, in which SPC showed a little bit of both and I thought we did a good job. We started off slow and that's what we have been doing a lot offensively, which was fairly new and so it was nice to take after those first six to figure it out and score more baskets to where we can reach the high 80s, 90s and hopefully break 100s in those games as long we be a little bit more in attack mode offensively."

“It felt pretty good to get the sweep over SPC tonight, especially against a great hall of fame coach,” said sophomore James ‘Pop’ Weathers. "We knew the type of players he was going to put on the court and had it all figured out. We came out a little slow in the first half and we called timeout so we can talk about what we needed to do to pick up the pace. Once the second half started, we hit 52 points and played pretty well."

“I feel like we were supposed to beat them earlier and it was a hard fought game,” said sophomore Kwo Agwa. "We executed to the end and it was good that we got the win. We did have a few hiccups, but we got the job done and that was a pretty good win at the end of the day."

“It felt great, especially going into Saturday's game against Santa Fe for revenge,’ said freshman Cobey Harraway. "We can just tell that we have improved compared to the first game against St. Pete as it was really close. Tonight, we took the lead, ran with it in the second half and kept our foot on their neck and didn't let up, so it felt good to get the win."

"Overall, we started off slow in 10 minutes of the first half, but we started to pick it up and scored 16 points in five minutes and really got it going and the momentum took us into the second half."

The first half was a slow start for the Manatees as they were not shooting the ball as much, but then 16-point run in five minutes helped the team regain their confidence on the floor and pushed their lead up. The Manatees were able to take the first half 36-26.

The second half proved to be the dagger as strong rebounding and putbacks by Agwa, two big 3-pointers by Harraway and freshman Jacari White and dunks by Weathers and freshman Ametri Moss gave the Manatees a big boost in offense as they sealed the deal for the win.

Five Manatees scored in double figures for the game, and it was Agwa that lead the way as he finished with his first double-double of the season as the Calgary native, who made his way back to the starting lineup, had a career-high 23 points (8-for-10 FG, 7-for-7 FT), 10 rebounds (five offensive), one steal and a career-high five blocks.

“I just feel like when I play with more energy, the results speak for themself,” said Agwa on his game. "When the points, rebounds and blocks come when I play hard, I never lose focus on it."

“Statistically, Kwo had a good year as a freshman, but he is capable of so much more,” said Parks on Agwa. "The biggest difference between this year's team and last year's team is we didn't have somebody to hold him accountable, so if he played bad or good, then he still played. When he played good, he helped us win and when he played bad, other guys stepped up even though we still had him on the floor and this year, with our depth, we were able to put Kwo on the bench and that was a big learning moment for him to understand that it didn't matter how he did last year, it was more he had to be consistent this year. While he did not have a ton of opportunities early in the season, when the guy in front of you is doing their job, it's hard to find extra minutes. Overall, I thought he did a good accepting the challenge of playing in a different position around the basket with the departure of Djordje (Gobovic) and I'm just really happy for Kwo because he's someone that can really impact the game in many and I'm happy he took advantage of the opportunity in a new role today."

Weathers would follow Agwa with 20 points (6-for-18 FG, 8-for-10 FT), five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while White finished with 14 points (5-for-11 FG, 2-for-5 3PT, 2-for-2 FT), five rebounds, one assist and one steal.

“I could have shot the ball better,” said Weathers on his game. "Yet at the end of the day, it's still a team win. I found ways to get my teammates involved as well as myself, so with those two elements working together, it helped us get this win."

Harraway finished with 13 points (4-for-7 FG, 2-for-3 3PT, 3-for-4 FT), four rebounds, one assist and three steals, while Moss, who was one rebound shy of a double-double, rounded out the order with 10 points (3-for-10 FG, 4-for-4 FT), nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

“It was for sure tough in the first half for me,” said Harraway on his game. "Obviously, I wanted to be good individually, but when the team is up 10 points going into the second half the team always comes first. Obviously, I was held to one point in the first half, which is unlike me, but I told myself in the locker room in my head 'you're good, you're not acting like yourself' and during the second half, I pushed myself to wake up to do what I needed to do to get my offense going."

Sophomores Clarence Cummings III (five points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals) and Darik Tannis-Harriet (one point) and freshmen Ronnail Tape (two points, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal), Sam Faraday (three rebounds) and Pierre-Gabriel Gouffran (one rebound) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

Weathers’ 20 points put him at 654 and needs 346 to reach 1,000 career points.

Up Next:

The Manatees remain at home as they welcome #18 Santa Fe (10-1) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, December 11 at 2 pm.

4th Herd Nearing Closing 2021 at Home

Bradenton, Fla- After another challenging weekend, the #24 SCF basketball team (9-5) return home for four straight games at Hal Chasey Gymnasium to close 2021. The Manatees will first welcome St. Petersburg (4-6) Thursday night December 9, and #18 Santa Fe (10-1) Saturday afternoon, December 11 at 2 pm for the first half of it. The games will be rematches from earlier this season.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees are coming off of a tough weekend after the Florida vs Georgia Thanksgiving Classic as they fell to Daytona State (73-72) at home in a rematch via buzzer beater and a lost to then #19/#23 Santa Fe (80-65) on the road.

Popping Up a Storm:

Sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers remains in tact to reach the milestone of 1,000 career points and becoming the second player under Coach Tom Parks' era to do so. Weathers has 634 career points so far and needs 366 to reach the milestone.

Currently, he is averaging 18.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. During the weekend, Weathers had 44 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.

Deadman's Hand:

Alongside Weathers, sophomore Clarence Cummings III and freshmen Jacari White, Cobey Harraway, Ametri Moss and Ronnail Tape have played big parts in their roles in the lineup.

Cummings III is averaging 8.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

White is averaging 10 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Harraway is averaging 11 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

Moss is averaging 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and two assists per game.

While he is averaging only 1.7 points per game, Tape continues his strong rebounding as he averaging three rebounds per game.

Scouting St. Pete:

The Titans are coming off of a 88-47 win over Pro Holmes Academy to snap and avoid a losing skid after falling in games against #22 Florida Southwestern (78-51) and Hillsborough (49-48).

Freshman Zane Nelson leads the team averaging 11.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Nelson played off the bench against Pro Holmes Academy where he finished with six points and two rebounds.

Sophomore Martin Mercedes is behind Nelson averaging 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, despite not playing against Pro Holmes Academy.

Scouting Santa Fe:

The Saints are currently ranked #18 in the NJCAA Top 25 polls and are coming off of a beating SCF earlier in the season.

Freshmen Bradley Douglas (15 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game) and Hasan Abdul-Hakim (14.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game) lead the path for the Saints on both ends of the floor. Classmate Nicolas McClain (11 points, 5.7 rebounds and two steals per game) also plays a vital role for the Saints.

Series History:

The Manatees are currently 4-13 against the Saints, which includes the earlier loss this season. The last time the Manatees played the Saints was on November 16 and December 7, 2019 by scores of 101-92 and 84-80.

Both games against SPC and Santa Fe will air on the SCF Sports Network.

Links:

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

Buzzer-Beater Faulters 4th Herd vs Daytona State

Bradenton, Fla - The #24 SCF basketball team (9-4) were taken in shock against Daytona State (5-6) at Hal Chasey Gymnasium as a buzzer-beater would be the heartbreaker for their 73-72 loss.

The Manatees were at a slow start in the first half as they started to fall behind, primarily with the Falcons putting freshman Djordje Gobovic in early foul trouble. The Manatees would fall behind 35-32 in the first half.

At the start of the second half, the Manatees started to build themselves up as they managed to get their first lead and were up by as much as eight points, but the Falcons started to creep up the score and eventually would get the buzzer-beater by sophomore Reggie Quezada.

Sophomore James 'Pop' Weathers would lead the Manatees offensively, finishing one rebound shy of a double-double. Weathers ended the night with 17 points (4-for-10 FG, 2-for-6 3PT, 7-for-8 FT), nine rebounds and four assists. Harraway would follow with his first collegiate double-double of 15 points (6-for-15 FG, 2-for-9 3PT, 1-for-2 FT) and 11 rebounds. He also added three assists, two blocks and two steals. Freshman Ametri Moss would round out the order with 10 points (4-for-7 FG, 2-for-2 3PT), two rebounds and two assists.

Gobovic would finish with nine points (4-for-9 FG, 1-for-2 FT), four rebounds and two assists before fouling out, while sophomore Clarence Cummings III finished with eight points (3-for-10 FG, 2-for-3 FT), five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

sophomores Kwo Agwa (four points, two rebounds and one assist) and Christian Nieto (one rebound and two steals) and freshmen Jacari White (five points, two rebounds and two assists), Ronnail Tape (one rebound, one assist, one block and one steal), Sam Faraday (two points and one rebound) and Pierre-Gabriel Gouffran (two points and one rebound) also contributed in the game.

Notes:

Weathers' 17 points put him at 607 and needs 393 to reach 1,000 career points.

Other Southern Conference Scores:

Hillsborough (5-4) were forced to cancel their scheduled game against Carolina Christian College. The Hawks will welcome Albany Tech Saturday afternoon, December 4.

Weekly Southern Conference Schedule:

12/4:

#7 Indian River State @ Pasco-Hernando State

HCC vs Albany Tech

#22 Florida Southwestern vs Daytona State

Miami Dade @ #24 Eastern Florida State

12/7:

#7 Indian River State @ ASA Miami

12/8:

Miami Dade vs Miami Triple Threat

Hillsborough vs Polk State

12/10:

#22 FSW vs South Georgia Tech @ Gulf Coast State

Miami Dade vs ASA Miami

Up Next:

The Manatees will travel to Gainsville for their next road game as they face #19/#23 Santa Fe College (9-1) Saturday afternoon, December 4 at 2 pm.

SCF Tennis Finalizes Season

Bradenton, Fla - The SCF tennis team has set aside the 2021 season and will look on to the 2022 season and hopefully another trip to nationals.

Last Time Out:

The Manatees come off finishing last season 1-8 overall with a 0-6 record in the Region 8 Standings. They would compete in the FCSAA State Tournament in San Lando where they would secure an automatic bid to qualify for the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament in Mesa, Arizona. They would finish in the Top 10 (T-7th) from there.

The Manatees are lead by head coach Chloe Murphy, who enters her fifth year as head coach for the team. She is joined by assistant coach Erin Bryce.

Key Losses, New Gains, Big Returns:

The Manatees will be without Alexis Booker, Mackenzie Vraspir, Britain 'Brie' Botsford, Allie Beck and Karla Menendez. Botsford (Savannah College of Art and Design (NAIA)) and Menendez (University of West Georgia (NCAA DII)) have decided to continue playing tennis collegiately.

Murphy was able to land five newcomers to join the team: Jessica Bustamante, Kathrin Didovich, Carlota 'Carly' Gascon Martinez, Jenna Gusto and Natalia Vuckovic. Gascon Martinez joined the Manatees as a sophomore transfer from Eastern Florida State.

All four returners for the Manatees are coming back: Kia Carvalho-Landell, Sarah Forsyth, Luna Mouton and Lou De Frietas Bonet.

Carvalho-Landell has been one of the key benefactors of the team after becoming runner-up in the state tournament at #5 singles and even went as far as semifinals of the NJCAA National Tennis Tournament. She is likely to move up from #5 singles to #3 singles. She finished 7-5 in singles action.

National Ranking:

In mentioning of Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez, the sophomore duo was ranked #4 in the nation after their strong performances in the ITA Regionals in St. Pete (Runner-up) and the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia (semifinalists). Carvalho-Landell and Gascon Martinez were also ranked in NJCAA Top 5 in singles action (#30: Carvalho-Landell; #33: Gascon Martinez).

Additionally, De Freitas Bonet was ranked #12 in the NJCAA Top 50 in singles and ranked #17 in the NJCAA Top 25 in doubles with Forsyth.

Schedule Breakdown:

The Manatees will begin with five matches on the road against five NCAA DII teams: Florida Southern, Nova Southeastern, Saint Leo, Embry-Riddle and the University of Tampa. The match against Tampa will be the season opener for the Manatees.

The Manatees will then have their home opener as they welcome NAIA Southeastern University (2/4) before playing another scrimmage against NCAA DII Rollins College.

After the scrimmage with Rollin, the Manatees will open conference play on the road against Eastern Florida State in Melbourne (2/11) before playing their final scrimmage against NCAA DII Flagler College.

They will resume conference play with a road match against Hillsborough (2/18) before returning home to welcome Central Alabama CC (2/22) and resuming conference play on the road against St. Pete (2/25).

The Manatees will then have another break as they will host six straight home matches. Three of the matches will close non-conference play: NAIA Florida National (3/2), Abraham Baldwin (3/11) and the University of West Georgia (3/22).

The Manatees will close conference play with three final home matches against HCC, SPC and Eastern Florida, with the final match being sophomore day for Carvalho-Landell, Mouton, De Freitas Bonet, Forsyth and Gascon Martinez, before closing the season with a scrimmage against NCAA DII Palm Beach Atlantic.

After the regular season, the Manatees will play in states and hopefully nationals afterwards.